Roots
by Saucy as a Unicorn
Summary: Vesa Hollis is a nomadic boy living outside the walls, unaware of their even existence. It is only when his best friend, Thales, discovers them does both of their worlds turn upside down. R&R
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One  
'The Fifty Meter Wall, Part One'**_

* * *

 _The trees are our friends... The trees are our home... The trees are our life..._

The leaves are turning colours. The deep shades of mustard seed yellow, burnt orange, and rust-red show signs of the changing of seasons. It also means that the weather will be getting colder soon and that we must find a place to remain warm. It is hard when you have to remain constantly moving. The lifestyle of a nomad is a hard one during the colder months, but in the end it means safety from the real monster; something much more terrifying than nippy winds or shorter days. The true enemy… The Titans.

The elders tell the stories of the beginning of the Titans. They the creatures first appeared more than a hundred years ago. The Titans are nothing more than human-like monsters. They are terrifying. The shortest of them is twice the height of a normal human, while the average usually ranging from seven to fifteen meters in height. To make matters worse, these humungous monsters ate humans. They ate humans not for substance, but for the mere point to eat humans. The stories say the Titans were sent to earth by the gods to punish the humans for their greediness. The humans had become weak due to their material possessions. They lost the ability to value life, so the gods sent the Titans to bring back that value.

The humans came close to dying completely off until the prophetess, Atua Teka, received a message from the gods. She was told to head for the trees. She headed off for a nearby forest filled with towering trees. Only a small group from her village followed her, while the rest stayed behind and tried to fight off the Titans. It turned out the Titans couldn't climb the trees. It turned out that Atua Teka was correct to leave too as the Titans attack her old village soon after she and her group left. Her group was safe from any and all Titans.

Time carried on and the trees became home for Atua Teka and her group. The group grew from other travels seeking safety and soon became known as the Tribe of the Trees. The tribe would hope from tree to tree, not staying in the same area every night. It confused the Titans, not allowing them to swarm in hordes on known locations. It is a practice still done to this day. We in the tribe can easily walk the branches that it is easy to go from one to another. With the weather becoming a bit bitter, it is a bit harder, but we can still move. We have to in order to survive.

My name is Vesa Hollis. I have lived amongst the Tribe for my entire life.

"Vesa! Hurry up!"

The shouts come from my not much older sister, Amisi. She is only three years to my senior, though acts much older. It can be annoying at times, but I can feel the love when she bosses me around. It is the only thing keeping me from snapping back.

We are on the move, like every other day. We only carry what little we own, so at least the trip is light-weight. I only have my blanket, a water canteen, some trail mix, and a slingshot I made. Weapons are illegal in the tribe. We are supposed to trust in the gods to protect us. And it is not like I don't believe. Trust me, I do. I made the slingshot back when I was just a kid. It wasn't meant to be used as a weapon, only as a toy. I just know though the leaders would take it the wrong way just by looking at it. So I keep it hidden.

"Vesa!" Amisi shouts my name again, bringing me back to my senses.

I am standing on a thin branch, meters above the very much solid ground below. Looking down, it can make any guy a bit queasy. I normally don't have much issue, but then again I don't normally look down. I quickly dart of the branch, joining my sister on a much thicker branch.

"Sorry about that," I apologize.

"Seriously, you keep this up and we might leave you behind," she teases.

"You wouldn't do that," I say.

"I might not, but Oku Pono just might," she says, all of the sudden her tone becoming serious and hushed.

She gestures to the man leading our tribe amongst the branches. An older man, about mid-fifties, stands there. One would think he would look brittle and deathly like many other elderly in the tribe, but he appears quite the opposite. He stands with his back up straight and his expression alert. One might even call him intimidating, if not downright terrifying. His name is Oku Pono and he is the leader of the leaders of our tribe; the head honcho, the supreme man. He has the ultimate decision when it comes to leading the group. Oku Pono is apparently the direct descendant of Atua Teka, our first leader. That makes him untouchable and his word law. The rest of the leaders are really just for show when it comes to him.

I make direct eye contact with him as I stare at him for too long. A strong scowl overtakes his face before I manage to pull my gaze away.

"Ah-oh looks like he caught you looking," says Amisi, still serious. "Not good. You know he may just punish you for looking at him the wrong way."

"Is there a right way?" I ask.

"Hush!" Amisi says, placing her hand over my mouth.

I have never had much respect for the man. With all the great tales of Atua Teka, one would think her descendant would at least compare to her. But no, Oku Pono is nothing more than some sleaze. The only reason why the rest of the tribe cannot see that is because the either have rose-coloured glasses on or they are too afraid to think otherwise. My sister is one of the latter. She knows what power he has, so she keeps her mouth shut. Well, I'm not afraid.

"Just shut up and keep moving," she says, finally taking her hand away once Oku Pono stops looking. "And let's hope he didn't hear you."

She walks away down the branch, following the rest of the tribe behind the old man. I stand alone. I hate seeing my sister scared. I don't like to think of her as weak or breakable. In fact, she is really brave in many situations. She can look a Titan in the eye and simple walk away when many people would be shaking in their boots. But when it comes to Oku Pono, she is petrified of that man.

I begin to follow behind the group. I'm usually one of the last, with the elderly and ill, so today is nothing new. No what is strange is my friend, Thales, also being in the back. I look around and find him behind a small group of the ill, hanging on his own. He is normally near the front. He is a social butterfly; hates being alone. So that is why it is so strange to see him doing just that. I fall back in order to be right beside him. I match his pace, which is rather easy seeing how it is slower than the slowest.

"What's the matter?" I finally decide to ask.

Hours seem to pass in silence. I know it is only minutes, maybe even just seconds, but the silence is almost unbearable. It feels like I'm being weighed down by the heaviness when Thales finally decides to talk.

"What if you learned everything is just a lie?" he whispers.

"What are you talking about?" I ask with a chuckle.

It is a silly question; everything you learned is a lie… Who wouldn't chuckle?

"I'm serious," he says, stopping my awkward attempt to laugh it off. "Don't tell anyone, but I went out last night."

I almost fell off the branch. Leaving the protection of the tribe is strictly forbidden. If you were caught leaving, you might be banished completely.

"What do you mean "went out"?" I ask, though already knowing the answer.

"I needed air, so I just went to walk around some nearby trees. A few trees turned into more and before I knew it I was well away from the tribe," whispers Thales. "But that's not what is getting to me. I saw something…"

"What?" I ask.

"A wall," Thales simply says.

* * *

 **So this is the start of my new story. Unlike many before, I am starting away from the walls and the cannon characters. Instead I decided to start off in an unnamed forest. I will tell you, to avoid confusion, that the tribe is in a forest outside Wall Maria. We'll get to the wall next time.**

 **Vesa Hollis is the narrator right now. He is a 17-year old nomadic boy. His sister, Amisi Hollis, is 20-years old. Thales, no surname, is 16 and Oku Pono is 54 and is the direct descendant of Atua Teka, a prophetess from close to ninety years ago.  
**

 **If you have any questions or comments, leave a review. I will try to answer any questions. Trolls, flamers, and all-around asses can leave. You can also fav/follow so you're up-to-date on any and all updates. I also have another story on this profile, that if you're into Hunger Games you should check out. Thank-you and hope you have a spectacular day! 3**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two  
**_ ** _'The Fifty Meter Wall, Part Two'_**

* * *

Never leave the safety of the group; an age old rule. You leave the group; there is a chance the group will leave you. The safety and security once there, just gone in an instant. I don't know if I can give that up. While I may not like Oku Pono, I care far too much for my own safety, and my sister's, to leave the tribe. If I left, and got caught, I would be thrown out for sure. My sister would want to follow me, putting both our lives at risk. There is no way I could do that it good conscience.

"Shut up," I say, before turning my back to Thales.

"You cannot tell me you don't have a single urge to see it," says Thales.

There is a little impulse I had to see if he was telling the truth or not, but my fear well overwhelmed my desire.

"I said shut up," I repeat.

"You are my friend, right Vesa?" Thales asks.

I turn back around and catch him in the eye. That question never leads to anything good.

"Yeah," I say, raising an eyebrow in response.

"Well, you wouldn't want me to get caught outside the tribe, right?" he asks. "Because you're such a good friend."

Thales is my only true friend, other than my sister. We had been close for ten years now. He was an orphan, found by one of the elders. He apparently lost his parents to Titans, but has always refused to tell the story of how they truly died. I never push him, but a lot of people were eerie at first about his past. With his social personality, a lot of them had changed their minds about him. But there are still a few not too sure about him. I however have stayed close to him for what feels like forever now.

Him asking this, I know he is playing on my sense of loyalty. I can only guess to where this was leading. What I didn't see at first was him slowly starting to back up on the branch where he was standing. It wasn't until he took off in the opposite direction of the group did I realize truly what he was planning.

"Shit," I mutter, looking at the direction of the group.

No one is in sight. They are well ahead. Now would be my only time to go after him. I can only hope that if someone notices we're not there, that Amisi covers for us somehow.

With my faith given to my sister, I give chase to Thales. He has a head start on me, but we are both evenly matched when it comes to agility. I manage to keep up with him, though there is still space between and I cannot seem to catch up with him.

"Almost there," I manage to hear Thales call out.

"He's completely lost it," I think aloud.

After about three and a half kilometers, and an elapsed time of about a quarter hour, Thales finally begins to slow down. I don't know if he's just tired, but I know I tuckered out. And I have to do it again on the way, and possibly even more length depending how far the tribe has gone away from us.

"Past this tree," mutters Thales as I close in on him.

His pace has slowed down completely as he walks along the branches. He seems to be acting very carefully. I don't know why, but it never hurts to be cautious. I walk a little bit faster than him, only a little, as I try to carefully close the space between us. I manage to reach him, just as he reaches the tip of the finally branch. Only leaves lay between us and what was outside the forest.

"Seriously Thales," I say, putting my hand on his shoulder. "We need to go back now. If we're lucky, no one has noticed we're not there."

He ignores me however, as he grabs a group of leafs and pushes them aside. What is left is a single, small window-like hole in the wall of leafs.

"No seriously," I go to say, but stop myself before I can say anything else.

I catch a peak through the window and what I see astounds me. Thales looks back over his shoulder, but I do not notice him, instead my eyes are stuck on the subject outside the forest.

"I told you," he purely says.

"Is that what I think it is?" I ask.

A grey, long structure towers well over the forest. Our trees grow about thirty meters or so in height, meaning the foreign structure is taller than that. I didn't know such a thing to be possible. The structure is only a mere kilometer or so away from us.

"It's the wall," he says.

"How can that be? Who made it?" I ask. "I thought all major civilizations were wiped out."

"That's what Oku Pono claims," Thales answers. "But we both know Oku Pono…"

We pause.

"How tall do you think it is?" I ask.

"Obviously well over thirty meters," Thales says.

"Obviously," I say.

"I'm thinking about fifty or so meters," Thales continues. "And there must still be humans nearby because it is well taken care of."

The news of humans, large groups of them, throws me for a loop. I had known that there were small groups, much like the tribe. That was no secret, but the amount of people it took to build this wall was something I never thought of. I guess I just thought that large groups wouldn't have been able to survive the Titans. I remain silent as my jaw drops at this revelation.

"How many do you think there is? I think hundreds," asks Thales, breaking the long-standing silence.

I look to both directions. The wall seems to go on forever and ever.

"Well over that," I say. "This wall it huge and who knows how long it goes on for and how it ends. There is bound to be a lot more people that larger the wall it. I'm guessing thousands, if not millions."

My own words are catching me by surprise, but I guess the image of the wall before me is allowing me to think outside my small box.

After many silent minutes of just staring at the wall, I finally snap back.

"We need to get back," I say.

"What? Get back?" Thales parrots.

"We saw this wall, okay than. But we need to get back to the tribe. We cannot afford to get into trouble," I say.

Thales lets go of the leaves, closing the window opening. He stands up straight and turns to face me. A pure state of anger is present on his face.

"What do you mean, get back?!" he snaps. "We just found out they have been lying to us! Why should we go back?"

"I understand they have been lying to us, but I'm not about to abandon my sister and all I have to just live where exactly?!" I snap back. "I highly doubt whoever is on the other side of that wall would just let us stroll in. They might even kill us if they saw us."

"You don't know that they would," Thales argues.

"You don't know that they wouldn't," I argue back.

The rage inside of me is building. I want to head back, I want to leave Thales to his delusions, but the little voice inside of me is refusing to leave my friend behind.

"Come on," I say.

I turn around and wave for Thales to follow me. I can hear him let out a sigh and begin to step forward. Suddenly all sounds he is making stop. It seems like every sound stops. Even I can feel myself go mute for some strange reason. But it is all only for a second, because after that second, all silence is replaced by a large, earth-shattering bang. The ground shakes causing the tree we were in to move along with the others. Thankfully it is strongly rooted, so there is no chance of it falling, but there is a chance we might. We both fall to the branch we're on and hang on for dear life as the earth quakes. The shaking comes to a stop slowly, but not before a Titan's cry can be heard.

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 **That is it for this chapter. I bet you can guess what will happen in the next chapter. I'm sorry for the late update. If you don't know, I'm currently in a hotel (for the past two months now) and I am currently looking for a place to rent. It is tiring and time consuming, so I don't have much time recently for updates. As soon as I find a place to rent, I suspect I'll have more time to update both of my profiles. Remember to review, thank-you! ;)  
**


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